Miles Bridges' mother: 'I don't think' he's made decision on NBA draft

Miles Bridges’ circle for making the choice between returning to Michigan State and leaving for the NBA is two people.

One of them – his mother, Cynthia – does not know.

She told the Free Press on Tuesday that the Spartans freshman superstar has not yet picked which path he will choose.

“I don't think he's made a decision yet on whether to stay or to go,” she said by phone.

Bridges said after MSU’s season-ending loss to Kansas in the NCAA tournament on March 19 that his only confidantes will be his mom and MSU coach Tom Izzo to advise him. The plan is for the three of them to meet sometime next week, Cynthia said, after Izzo gathers information from NBA general managers, executives and scouts.

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“We’re supposed to meet next week to know where he stands. I’m like, oh my gosh, it would be so easy for me – NBA,” Cynthia Bridges said with a laugh. “I don’t know, I think his mind might already be made up. But hopefully, when he meets and sees the stats and sees the pros and the cons of, hey, if you go now compared to if you stay another year and how they’re going to critique you and your stock could drop, I don’t think he knows any of that.”

The 6-foot-7 forward from Flint finished with 473 points this season – one shy of Shawn Respert – to rank second in MSU freshman scoring over his 28 games. His 232 rebounds rank third to Magic Johnson’s 237 for a program rookie.

Bridges led the Spartans with 16.9 points and 8.3 rebounds a game and scored 40 points in the NCAA tourney, including 22 against Kansas. He also broke Scott Skiles’ single-game freshman scoring mark with 33 points in a loss to Purdue on Jan. 24.

ESPN’s Chad Ford has Bridges at No. 10 on his overall draft rankings, rating him the No. 4 small forward in this year’s class. Bridges mostly played power forward for the undersized, injury-depleted Spartans. DraftExpress.net projects Bridges at No. 11 overall, while NBADraft.net pegs him as the No. 14 pick.

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Bridges has until 11:59 p.m. on April 23 to decide whether to enter the NBA Draft. If he enters and does not sign with an agent, he could participate in the NBA Draft Combine (May 9-14 in Chicago) and would then have until 5 p.m. on June 12 to potentially withdraw from the draft and return to MSU. If he signs with an agent, he forfeits his final three years of college eligibility.

The NBA Draft will be held June 22.

“I think it comes down to more what Miles wants to do and what he’s accomplished, what he wants to accomplish,” Izzo said last week on 92.1-FM in Lansing. “He’s a unique kid, he’s a different kid than any of the great players I’ve had as far as just his humility and humblness. He’s gonna make a good decision, I think.”

Cynthia Bridges – who is recovering from knee replacement surgery – said she is surprised her son has not yet made up his mind.  She felt having seen classmates Jayson Tatum (Duke) and Lonzo Ball (UCLA) already make their decision to leave college after one year for the draft would have swayed Miles.

“No, I don’t know,” Bridges’ mother said of his decision. “I just pray that once he sees the stats, he’ll make that decision. ‘Hey, what can I do here? What can I do at Michigan State now?’”

Contact Chris Solari:csolari@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter@chrissolari